Carmel Academy (formerly the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy, WFHA) was a Jewish private school in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

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, serving grades Kindergarten through 8. Also including transitional Kindergarten The school originally was located in

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. In 2020, Carmel Academy announced its plans to close at the end of the school year.

History

The school opened in a rented space in

, in 1998.Hagey, Keach.
Jewish School Gains Its Own Place
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''. September 18, 2006. 6A. Retrieved on January 10, 2012.
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. The school was established by parents who were unable to send their children to the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester (now the Leffell School) in

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

, as that school was oversubscribed. The parents wanted the teaching of

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to go by themes instead of being taught chronologically, and it wanted the school to mix its instruction of world history with

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.Berger, Joseph.
A Kinder, Gentler, More Kosher Greenwich
" ''

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''. June 18, 2006. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. The school had 24 students when it opened. The school has been located in Greenwich since 2001. Originally, the school occupied areas withi
Temple Sholom
the largest synagogue in Greenwich. The school's physical education program consisted of weekly visits to the

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and basketball, played with a basketball hoop in the parking lot of the temple. In 2005 it had 108 students. In 2006 it had 130 students. In the 2000s, The Japanese School of New York (Greenwich Japanese School) had vacant buildings due to their decreased student population. In 2006, the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy purchased The Japanese School of New York's 15 Ridgeway campus from the Japanese Education Alliance for $20 million, and classes began there in September 2006. The Japanese School continued to the campus for classes. The Hebrew school leased several buildings on the campus to the Japanese school for up to eight years. In 2006, Carmel school administrators decided to place a maximum enrolment of 325 students, with a maximum of two classes with 18 students each per grade, so that the school's students receive individual attention from teachers. As of 2009, the school has about 230 students.Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy offers Hebrew language program
" '' Greenwich Time''. August 31, 2009. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. The school received its final name in 2011. In 2020, Carmel Academy announced that it would close down at the end of the school year. A letter from Carmel referred students to the Leffell School, stating that there would be integration of Carmel programs there, although Leffell stated that Carmel was simply closing and that it was not merging into Lefell. Leffell was to take many of the students at Carmel. The Brunswick School, which was scheduled to acquire the Carmel Academy site, planned to convert it into a preschool and housing for employees. The Japanese School moved into another facility in Greenwich. Brunswick acquired the former Carmel Academy site in September 2023.

Campus

The campus, the former Rosemary Hall school for girls, had of space and 15 buildings. The classes of the Hebrew school and the Japanese school were held in separate buildings, while both schools shared the fieldstone gymnasium. The school was the only Jewish educational institution in the world to house a Christian chapel, St. Bede's Chapel. The chapel, which was designed by Carrere and Hastings, was completed in 1909.

Curriculum

The school had Judaic studies, language arts, mathematics, and science. The curriculum included the history of the Jewish people, the Hebrew language, and information about Israel. The Hebrew language program taught the language as a modern language, and students used literature, newspapers, poems, and songs to learn the language. The school also offered the Providing Alternative Learning Strategies program to teach students with language-based learning disabilities.

Extra-curricular activities

Extra-curricular activities included a student newspaper, Chidon HaTanach Bible Contest, E2K, student government, and the Math Olympiad. In 2003 Carmel Academy had an exchange program with the Jaim Weitzman School in

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References

External links

Carmel Academy
{{Jewish schools in the United States Schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut Private elementary schools in Connecticut Private middle schools in Connecticut Private K–8 schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1998 1998 establishments in New York (state) Greenwich, Connecticut Port Chester, New York Schools in Westchester County, New York Private elementary schools in New York (state) Private middle schools in New York (state) Defunct private schools in Connecticut